WASHINGTON (AP) — Two influential senators are calling on President Barack Obama to send more U.S. ground troops to hotspots around the Middle East.

The suggestion by Republican John McCain and Democrat Dianne Feinstein is a direct challenge to the president, who has said he doesn’t want to increase the U.S. military presence in Yemen despite the deteriorating security condition in that country.

McCain — a Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee — and Feinstein tell CBS’ “Face the Nation” that special operations forces in particular may be necessary to blunt Iranian influence in Yemen and elsewhere.

Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the U.S. needs more human intelligence in the region and to not rely so heavily on intelligence gathered by technical means.

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